Palace defiant over charity gift from 'fraudster'

St James's Palace has asked to see evidence of any "wrongdoing" in response to claims that a Turkish businessman facing accusations of fraud donated £400,000 to a charity so he could dine with the Prince of Wales.

Cem Uzan, who is accused by the mobile phone giants Motorola and Nokia of swindling them out of nearly £2bn, was said to have met the Prince on three occasions after pledging his gift to the Prince's Foundation. According to reports in two Sunday newspapers, Uzan, 42, was sentenced in his absence to 15 months' imprisonment last December by a High Court judge in London for contempt of court after he failed to appear at hearings over the freezing of his assets.

But yesterday a spokeswoman for St James's Palace said officials would only investigate allegations of "cash for access" once they had seen "evidence of wrongdoing". She said Uzan had not been convicted of a criminal offence and that "many businessmen" were involved in "business disputes" with big companies such as Motorola or Nokia.

She also said it was unclear when the donations were alleged to have been made. She said the newspapers should send their "information" to Sir Michael Peat, Prince Charles's private secretary. He is heading an inquiry into the controversial collapse of the Old Bailey trial of the former royal butler Paul Burrell. The inquiry is also examining a cover-up of an alleged homosexual rape at the palace and claims that royal gifts have been sold.

Uzan, who ran for Prime Minister in Turkey's elections, allegedly made donations to the Prince's Foundation to mingle among the business and social elite, acting on advice from a London public relations firm. The businessman, who is now believed to be in Istanbul, is being sued by Motorola in a New York court.